1. Amalgamate Without Debate By: Kiernan Rennie

2. Introduction For those of you who participate or participated in minor hockey, you will know how frustrating it is for your area (especially in Grey-Bruce) to have enough registrations to make a full hockey team. The concerns of very few centers has been heard, and this gave me more than enough reason to put this project into action.

3. Purpose The purpose of my project is to eliminate the stress of low registrations by suggesting new amalgamations for 2 or more small towns. This will create one center for a larger and more competitive team, giving kids the satisfaction of playing at a higher level of hockey.

4. Geographic Inquiry Process Ask- Geographic Questions Acquire- Geographic Resources Explore- Geographic Data Analyze- Geographic Information Act- On geographic Knowledge

5. Geographic Questions  Will my data be completely accurate?  Will teams be willing to amalgamate with other teams?  Will parents want to drive the extra distance?  Do players at other centers want to play more competitive?  Do the amalgamations effect WOAA playoffs?  Will it increase registration numbers dramatically  How many centers will find this project useful?

6. Methodology Throughout this project, a long with everyone else, I ran into some challenges, such as: Receiving the data I required Suggesting new amalgamations Accurately locating problem areas (population, location, etc.) Taking into consideration the condition of all arenas in Grey-Bruce

9. Retiring Arenas ArenaCondition Chesley8 Tara5 Paisley8 Wiarton5 Lion’s Head6 Owen Sound10 Chatsworth4 West Grey8 Lucknow2 Hanover10 Walkerton8 Kincardine7 Port Elgin10 Southampton4

10. Conclusion After completing this project, I found that... All needed to be amalgamated with a center close to them. Everything had laid out perfectly and I was then able to suggest reasonable amalgamations for all of the above centers. I was also able to show which arenas were in the worst shape and have little money to repair them.

11. Very Special Thanks! BIG Thanks to the following Minor Hockey Presidents:  Gary Scott- Saugeen Shores  Andrea Watson- West Grey  Steve Dunbar- Wallace  Don Leslie- Walkerton  Brian Seaman- Owen Sound  Steve Shouldice- Shallow Lake  Dave Tedford- TCDMHA  Dan Kerr- Lucknow  Rob Bishop- Kincardine  Kevin Waddell- AEMHA  Steve Fitzsimmons- Hanover